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How we achieved the highest conversion increase ever by redesigning an internal tool for Liantis
Discover the most common mistake in product development
And how to solve it
"Are there any outstanding invoices for me?"
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"I want to hire someone, what do I need to consider?"
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"I read about a new legal requirement, does it apply to my business?"
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Every day, Liantis receives a multitude of such questions from entrepreneurs. The questions cover insurance, hiring, salaries, and much more.
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Liantis has different departments to handle these questions. Their biggest strength.
But therein also lies a challenge, because:
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How do you ensure that a customer is helped smoothly without sending them 'from pillar to post'?
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How do you bring together information from all those departments intelligently so that you can quickly find important information?
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Things went wrong sometimes...
For example, there was a customer who called and asked if he had any outstanding invoices. "No, nothing to see," was the answer.
The next day, he had a bailiff knocking on his door ...
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Terrible for a company that puts so much emphasis on customer-oriented work!
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It was time to address this: the internal tool for finding customer data had to be improved!
How do you build an internal tool that truly helps employees to work customer-centric?
Often, product teams operate in the following manner:
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They commence with a business analysis.
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From there, they extract the requirements for a new tool.
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The features listed are then mapped out in a roadmap, including priorities.
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Eventually, these features are delivered in sprints.
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A major campaign announces this. The main message: From now on, you can do x, y, and z with the tool.
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Logical, isn't it?
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Unfortunately, there is one thing missing in this way of working: the user.
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Very often, the user is completely overlooked, and this can have painful consequences.
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Because these risks are lurking around the corner:
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Soon, no one uses the tool, or at least not as intended.
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Much time, money, and manpower are wasted on features that are not essential.
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Even worse: the CEO follows the results closely, and they fall short...
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A significant missed opportunity and challenging to explain.
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And that was precisely Liantis's concern with this project.
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What if the employee doesn't use the tool later? What if it's a complete flop?
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That's why we always first focus on the target audience and base our solutions on their needs.
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Something many organizations are not accustomed to.
"In terms of content, the management had doubts about whether we should survey the employees/users, especially since the main focus is on achieving business objectives."
Benedict Decoster, Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
3 steps to a tool that truly leads to more customer-friendly work
Whatever the goal of your project, whether it's a website, internal tool, or automated emails... Ultimately you want others to take action. It's about the behavior of those others. We call that the desired behavior.
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Thanks to our knowledge of behavioral psychology, we understand how people behave and how we can design for it.
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With that knowledge, you can take success into your own hands and let all decisions be guided by science.
It's knowledge that we use in every step of the process.
1. Strategy: How can we genuinely assist the target audience (in this case, the employee)?
Given that employees use the tool, we needed to gather their feedback.
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Through qualitative in-depth interviews supplemented with a broad survey, we investigated how we could better support the employees. Therefore, we always start by focusing on their current way of working and the problems they encounter:
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The main issue appeared to be time loss. For instance, during a phone call, it was challenging to quickly find data, both from the customer and the right internal contact person to transfer the call to.
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Another problem was the presence of uncertainties and even fears. For example, the fear that no one would pick up a reported complaint or sales lead, leaving the customer unattended.
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Instead of immediately devising solutions, we mapped out precisely what the employee's problems were. And especially which of those problems we would try to address.
"It was inspiring because it was both strategic and concrete, sparking many ideas in our minds. This enthusiasm motivated us, and we are encouraged because Kaat and her team translate challenges into opportunities.
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Having buy-in from the management is also very beneficial for the project. We have had other projects that only highlight problems and what could be improved, and that is not a pleasant story to bring internally."
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Benedict Decoster, Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
What is normal for product development is that there is no full-blown solution yet, so we had to prioritize.
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In a roadmap workshop, we brainstormed together on how to proceed.
If you want to create real value with an MVP, you must address at least one problem really well.
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This ensures that you create something valuable and can communicate clearly about it later on.
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So instead of saying, "We launched feature x, y, and z," say, "We solved that problem."
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The second story is much more convincing, increasing the likelihood that the target audience will actually use it.
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However, this requires that you prioritize solving certain problems from the very beginning. With everything that follows, you can then always ask yourself: does this help solve the problem?
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It's a super powerful guideline for all decisions: where will your time, money, and energy go?
"Without the research, it wouldn't have been as good. That is truly so valuable! The value of the research was translated very strongly throughout the enite design and copy of the tool."
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Benedict Decoster - Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
Up to this point went our first collaboration. Liantis wanted to first ascertain whether our way of working and what we could deliver would indeed bring value.
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We were more than happy that Liantis was enthusiastic and also wanted to take the next steps with us!
2. Design & Copywriting: Time to solve the issues
The initial focus was on quickly searching and finding all the key customer data.
The search engine and the results screen of the tool were crucial for this purpose.
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Therefore, we worked on:
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1. Enhancing the search functionality
2. Adding the ability to filter results
3. Improving the presentation of search results
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All these aspects were developed into wireframes.
Later, the design agency beautifully incorporated everything into the branding of Liantis.
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But we also revamped the other screens of the tool.
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In doing so, we alleviated the concerns of employees when it came to reporting a complaint or sales lead.
Behavioral scientists have extensively researched how to stimulate behavior.
This can be achieved with these 3 elements:
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1. Make behavior as easy as possible:
- Physically: Provide as few steps as possible.
- Mentally: Ensure it is understandable.
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2. Add motivation:
- Offer a personal welcome or 'well done'.
- Address fears by explaining what will happen after clicking 'confirm'.
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3. Make your Call to Action (CTA) as convincing as possible and prompt action at the right moment.
"You turned something that is very complex into something user-friendly, logical, and without too much explanation for the end user."
Benedict Decoster - Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
3. Validation: Did we really solve the problem?
Time to test whether the new tool actually helps the employees move forward.
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We presented a prototype to the tool's users and made some further adjustments based on their feedback. It mainly involved refining words and phrases that weren't 100% clear.
But now we were certain that this was what needed to be developed.
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During the implementation, we continued to consider concrete choices that had to be made.
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If something was not technically feasible, we looked at what could be done without compromising the power of behavioral design.
4. One more thing...
You can't bring attention to a new or improved product without communicating about it. So, one last thing: communicating to all internal employees.
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Since we understood the value of the new tool for the employees, it was easy for us to craft a clear and compelling story. Therefore, we collaborated with Liantis' communication team to develop various emails, presentations, and intranet messages.
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The result was a highly convincing message that immediately encouraged people to use the tool.
Does it really work?
Everything was substantiated and researched, but even we were surprised by the result. Honestly, it had never been this good:
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In 3 days, the tool generated as many sales leads as it normally would in 1 year!
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That means +7300% !!!
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And the objectives regarding the usage and appreciation of the tool were also easily achieved:
"The search page is now live, and the feedback is positive. Users have indicated that it is much easier and more intuitive. Moreover, one user expressed satisfaction with a 'new feature,' although it had been there for a while but apparently was not easily discoverable. That's truly the evidence of your excellent work!"
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Benedict Decoster - Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
But it's about more than numbers alone...
Everything was substantiated and done in co-creation. This way, there was no resistance internally.
"HumanEyes organized everything in a highly participatory manner. We truly worked together, not just with a 'apply this now' approach, but genuinely co-creating, which quickly reduced resistance."
Benedict Decoster, Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
"Having someone with that expertise involved in the research, who is consistently referring back to the research, explaining why we need to do something and applying stakeholder management. That is truly something to cherish."
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Benedict Decoster, Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
"Having someone with that expertise involved in the research, who is consistently referring back to the research, explaining why we need to do something and applying stakeholder management. That is truly something to cherish."
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Benedict Decoster, Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
For a responsible - perhaps even low - cost and within a limited time.
"If I see how much work HumanEyes put into it, it was really cheap. You're thorough, it's well-prepared, work has been put into it. You can see it in all aspects."
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Benedict Decoster– Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
"We achieved a great result in a limited time and with responsible resources ;) Everyone has a really positive feeling about it."
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Benedict Decoster– Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
"Your communication is very smooth, and availability and appointments are followed up on excellently. For us, that's worth its weight in gold. The pricing is also as agreed upon. In short, it's honest!"
Benedict Decoster, Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
Strong-held ideas and opinions were challenged, and discussions are now off the table.
"It's really important for us to work with mature partners who are dare to challenge us and sometimes put us in our place. You guys do an excellent job in that."
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Benedict Decoster, Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
"On one hand, you've tested the assumptions we had without being directive and in a much broader manner. On the other hand, you've identified blind spots in a neutral and objective way.
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This is incredibly valuable for our organization. We're now starting from a neutral standpoint. Legacies and opinions are off the table. Discussions can be easily parked."
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Benedict Decoster– Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
And now what?
"We are convinced that the entire customer experience should be determined by human-centric design."
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Benedict Decoster - Customer Engagement Manager @ Liantis
Together, we devised a plan to further integrate the knowledge of behavioral and human-centric design into the organization. In addition to training sessions, coaching and expert feedback are also implemented in various other projects.
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We assist where necessary, helping internal teams continually develop their expertise in these areas.
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What began as a research project has blossomed into a very fruitful partnership.